The likelihood of being shot in a hospital is less than the chance of getting struck by lightning, according to Johns Hopkins research.
Four researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore reviewed 11 years of data and identified the following key points:
• Nearly 30 percent of U.S. hospital-based shootings occurred in emergency departments.
• 50 percent of the ED incidents involved a police or security officer's firearm that was either stolen to shoot victims or used by security to fire at an assailant.
• Most perpetrators had a personal association with victims.
• Common motives for shootings are grudges or revenge, suicide and euthanizing an ill relative.
The researchers concluded that specialized training for law enforcement and security personnel may be a more effective way to prevent future incidents than investment in expensive or intrusive technologies, such as magnetometers.
Four researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore reviewed 11 years of data and identified the following key points:
• Nearly 30 percent of U.S. hospital-based shootings occurred in emergency departments.
• 50 percent of the ED incidents involved a police or security officer's firearm that was either stolen to shoot victims or used by security to fire at an assailant.
• Most perpetrators had a personal association with victims.
• Common motives for shootings are grudges or revenge, suicide and euthanizing an ill relative.
The researchers concluded that specialized training for law enforcement and security personnel may be a more effective way to prevent future incidents than investment in expensive or intrusive technologies, such as magnetometers.
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